The commemoration of June 19, has become known as "Juneteenth."

Nice for "Juneteenth."

Politico: Almost 150 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, the Senate has adopted a resolution that formally apologizes for slavery and the racial segregation of the Jim Crow era.
The nonbinding resolution, sponsored by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), includes a disclaimer that rules out reparations for descendants of African slaves — something that has been a sticking point in previous efforts at such apologies.

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Some members of the Congressional Black Caucus criticized the inclusion of the disclaimer, but it passed the Senate on a voice vote Thursday.
“Congress’ condemnation of the legalized slavery and segregation of millions of our own is long overdue,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said in a statement. “No one pretends that a mere apology — or any words — can right the wrongs of the past. But it represents our recognition of that past and our commitment to more fully live up to our nation’s promise in the future.”

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The Senate passed a resolution Thursday calling on the United States to apologize officially for the enslavement and segregation of millions of African Americans and to acknowledge "the fundamental injustice, brutality and inhumanity of slavery and Jim Crow laws."
The resolution, sponsored by Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, passed on a voice vote. It is headed to the House, where it may meet an unlikely foe: members of the Congressional Black Caucus.

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WashPost: Still, Cohen said, "there are going to be African Americans who think that [the apology] is not reparations, and it's not action, and there are going to be Caucasians who say, 'Get over it.' . . . I look at it as something that makes people think."

Even among proponents of a congressional apology, reaction to yesterday's vote was mixed. Carol M. Swain, a professor of political science and law at Vanderbilt University who had pushed for the Bush administration to issue an apology, called the Democratic-controlled Senate's resolution "meaningless" since the party and federal government are led by a black president and black voters are closely aligned with the Democratic party.

"The Republican Party needed to do it," Swain said. "It would have shed that racist scab on the party."